Master Keyboard Advice....Please

[pedro5]

Can anyone recommend a master keyboard for the Kronos,please ?

Preferably a graded hammer type,either 88 or 73 key version.

With Thanks.

Best Wishes.

[ronnfigg]

This is really going to be a personal preference thing. You will want to try and get out and play as many as you can. Try googling to get an idea what's out there, and there are quite a few.

[Ojustaboo]

Totally agree. For every person that recommends a particular keyboard, there will be someone else who hates it.

Trouble I found when I was looking, none of the well known UK stores had a display of different midi controller keyboards to try out. They all had loads on their websites but phoning around, usually they had none available to try out in their stores, or if very lucky they might have jut one.

So I never found anywhere where I could go and try out a few and compare them.

Hope you have better luck than I did.

[pedro5]

Thanks for the replies,so far.....I expected it would be the case of personal preference,but a little surprised that none are ready for trial in the UK shops.
Perhaps I could pre-arrange a demo with a few final choices,prior to a visit.....or are dealers reluctant to do this ?

I was wondering if any Kronos users actually use a master keyboard with their current set up,to use as a guide for future consideration,really.

My thoughts are leaning toward replacing the K73 with a 63 key version and having a "reliable" controller keybed of choice.
Although I do like playing the RH3 bed,I've lost faith with it recently,due to the fault etc and I don't relish the idea of the repair route,especially if it means being repeated unknown times.
The thing is just too heavy for me to lug up / down stairs etc. too often.

At the moment I'm still in the "disappointed" mode and feel like trading the K73 ,as said.....

I don't wish to begin yet another "keybed" problem saga.....but what I don't understand is why it's only the sgx piano that's affected and most,if not all the other voices seem to be fine.

Oh well,perhaps the New Year will bring forth a positive way forward and I shall have a better attitude in dealing with the situation.

Best Wishes.

[GregC]

Thanks for the replies,so far.....I expected it would be the case of personal preference,but a little surprised that none are ready for trial in the UK shops.
Perhaps I could pre-arrange a demo with a few final choices,prior to a visit.....or are dealers reluctant to do this ?

I was wondering if any Kronos users actually use a master keyboard with their current set up,to use as a guide for future consideration,really.

My thoughts are leaning toward replacing the K73 with a 63 key version and having a "reliable" controller keybed of choice.
Although I do like playing the RH3 bed,I've lost faith with it recently,due to the fault etc and I don't relish the idea of the repair route,especially if it means being repeated unknown times.
The thing is just too heavy for me to lug up / down stairs etc. too often.

At the moment I'm still in the "disappointed" mode and feel like trading the K73 ,as said.....

I don't wish to begin yet another "keybed" problem saga.....but what I don't understand is why it's only the sgx piano that's affected and most,if not all the other voices seem to be fine.

Oh well,perhaps the New Year will bring forth a positive way forward and I shall have a better attitude in dealing with the situation.

Best Wishes.

I think you should stick with another K73 and not ' settle '. I think one has to realize that the folks that post here are very small subset of Kronos owners.

Here in the US, I have good dealer contacts that sell Kronos in volume. The defect keybeds are very few and mostly history. There are a few floating around on ebay, I suspect, which is unfortunate but ebay is a buyer beware proposition.

[muztank]

Roland FP7-F

[pedro5]

Thanks for the contribution and opinion, am pleased to learn that the keybed problems are now rare in the US.
I'm here in the UK and recent events suggest problems still exist,perhaps for a minority by comparison,but remains as an ongoing situation.

My own and a fellow forum member had the Kronos supplied direct from Korg UK,with the current problem in situ etc.
Although my purpose here is not to speak ill of Korg,however,I am disappointed with the unit that was issued from them,despite reassurances that my model had the revised key contacts and should not present problems.

I do realise that some problems will not manifest themselves immediately,but given that the keybed ones are known to Korg,surely a better testing method should be in place prior to shipment to customers.

This,for me, does not inspire much confidence any more and I need to seek alternatives,hence the exploration of controller keyboards etc.

Forgive the rant….am still in bewildered mode.

Had a look at the Roland F…. it does sound promising,except for the key rattle noise and of course the current cost.
I still like the Korg sgx piano though,so perhaps a master keyboard with a Kronos 61 remains a choice.

I need to add that I've not contacted my dealer yet,so the remedy is still an option and a final decision will be made in the near future.

Best Wishes.

[midinut]

Studiologic VMK-188 Pro
Yamaha MOX8
Kurzweil PC3x
Casio Privia Series

[Scott]

The travel weight is why I never considered any Kronos but a 61. You could pair it with a 24 pound Casio Privia. The PX3 has nice MIDI controller functions. The PX-150/350 are much more minimal as controllers, but they have a new, nicer feeling (IMO) action.

[pedro5]

Thanks for the suggestions.
The casio px3 and the px 350 are sure contenders,but is the px350 worth the price difference ?

Going by the specification and blurb,the px350 seems to have the edge.

How does it compare to a "proper" master controller,though.....good enough ? (with a piano thrown in,as well....).

I'm a little concerned about its velocity level settings,only a choice of three,would this be a limitation in practice ?

Best Wishes.

[Scott]

The casio px3 and the px 350 are sure contenders,but is the px350 worth the price difference ?

Here in the U.S., they are priced the same.

Going by the specification and blurb,the px350 seems to have the edge.

How does it compare to a "proper" master controller,though.....good enough ? (with a piano thrown in,as well....).

The PX350 has a better acoustic piano sound than the PX3, but the other sounds in the PX3 are generally better, and are editable, so they are much more useful... and if you're pairing it with a Kronos, you probably don't care about these boards' internal piano sounds anyway. So to the extent that more sounds has any appeal to a Kronos owner, the PX3 would probably be more enticing there.

The PX350 has internal speakers. Even if you're using it to trigger the Kronos piano sounds, you could route the Kronos audio to the PX350's Line In to have them sound through the PX350's speakers. I happen to like when a piano sound comes out of internal speakers, I think it makes it feel more real to play, as you sense the vibrations in your fingers, as you do from the strings in a real piano.

You also may find times it is convenient to use the Casio by itself, and internal speakers can be handy then. I have found internal speakers in pianos to be very useful for quick little "unplugged" rehearsal or mini-gig scenarios, like playing a cocktail hour, etc.

The PX350 has, to my fingers, a much better action than the PX3.

The PX3 has a lot more MIDI controller functionality. You can split the keyboard and create presets with that trigger on different MIDI channels and/or send different MIDI Program Changes on either side of the split point, with stored settings for octave transposition, volume, etc. The PX350 doesn't let you do any of that, but you should be able to use the Kronos itself to create its own complex setups that can be triggered from an otherwise "dumb" external MIDI controller like the PX350. Also, the PX3 has a modulation button on it... not as good as a variable wheel, but at least some way to introduce mod (you can program it to introduce whatever amount you want, if you don't want it full up when engaged)... the PX350 has no mod control at all.

So there are pros and cons to both. The PX3 is far more flexible, but there is so much flexibility built into the Kronos you are controlling, that your need for that may be diminished. The PX350 feels better to play (though there is always some subjectivity to that), and has the built in speakers.

[pedro5]

Thank you so much for the information,Scott,appreciate the detail.

You've given me more things to consider,which I had not thought of and are useful to know.

One other question for you if I may,please.

Do you know how the px350 keybed response /playing compares to the Kronos hammer version at all ?

I do like the feel of the korg.....(that is when it works properly....??....which is why I'm considering the change etc).
However,as said it can be subjective anyway and I would need to try things out prior to purchase,even though I didn't do so with the Kronos,but was pleasantly surprised and satisfied with the playabillity....well,for a while at least.....

This time my concern is the limited velocity settings on the px350,as with many other similar keyboards....which may well be fine,but I don't know,yet.

Best Wishes.

[Ojustaboo]

Is aftertouch important to you?

Don't know about the px350 but when I looked at using a piano as my master controller last year, unless I was looking at high end stage pianos, they seldom had aftertouch.

[pedro5]

Aftertouch isn't that important at the moment,haven't used it much on the Kronos…..probably will miss it when not available,though…
My main objective is to play the piano voices with a more reliable keybed,(which is subject to change if ever I stay with the K73,of course) most of the other controls could be done in a different way,in my case.

Did you make a final short list with your search for a master keyboard ?
(I know you now have a Kronos,but wondered which would have been your choice).


Oh,by the way....Merry Xmas to you.....and everyone.

Best Wishes.

[dfahrner]

I used a KRONOS 61 with several external controllers (Roland, Yamaha, M-Audio), and while they all gave me the bigger keyboard I needed for piano playing, I had to spend a lot of time tweaking velocity curves (on both sides) and other SGX-1 parameters to get the piano "feel" right...for one thing, you have to turn down the "Mechanical Noise" parameter, since none of the other controllers send note-off velocity...then I got a KRONOS 73, and immediately the piano felt right, and my SGX-1 parameter edits didn't have to be as drastic to get the sound I wanted...I don't know, it's like there is a more direct connection between the KRONOS sound engine and the RH3 keyboard than there is over a MIDI connection (well, they are in the same box, duuh)...and add me to the list of RH3 keyboard owners who have never had any keyboard problems (and I have a really early serial number, 000xxx, too)...

df